Press Release
July 28, 2004
Onset Demos METAmessage Emergency Communication Capabilities For BlackBerry At Government Security Expo (GOVSEC)
Emergency Gateway Helps Maintain Continuous Communications Between Command Centers and BlackBerry® Handhelds Even When Email or Voice Networks Go Down; Portable Server Pushes Forms, Emergency Messages via Mobitex™ Network
Washington, DC - Onset Technology, a leading developer of enterprise access software for wireless handheld devices, announced today that it will demonstrate important new METAmessage® emergency communications capabilities at the Government Security Expo (GOVSEC) held July 28-29 in Washington, DC. The capabilities, designed for use in conjunction with the BlackBerry® wireless platform from Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM, TSX: RIM), provide a broad set of features that ensure continuity of communications and operations in the event of natural disaster or terrorist attack.
The patent-pending METAmessage Emergency Gateway helps ensure that BlackBerry handheld users are in constant communication with command centers, receiving and reporting emergency notifications and updates via PIN-to-PIN messaging, automatically switching user handhelds from email to PIN-to-PIN mode. For example, the server can push an emergency “Where are you?” message to users that appears as a window with an audible alert. The message can require the user to enter location and contact information in the window and submit the data back to the Gateway. The Gateway, interacting with virtually any type of information system such as a database, can then push user location information, or any other appropriate information, such as Continuity of Operations (COOP) and emergency response (ER) plans, to the field. Or, the Gateway can respond to individual user requests as needed.
Onset is showing the METAmessage Emergency Communications capabilities in the Cingular Wireless booth (#3213) at GOVSEC. The Emergency Gateway takes advantage of Cingular’s Mobitex™ network to ensure communications when voice networks may be overwhelmed. Mobitex is the world’s leading system for dedicated wireless data, providing a highly secure environment, the highest levels of reliability, faster data delivery and extensive seamless coverage Cingular’s Mobitex network has a legacy of reliable performance during times of emergency. For example, during the 9/11 attack and the 2003 east coast blackout, BlackBerry devices using the Mobitex network maintained full functionality while other wireless communications systems often failed. Cingular operates the largest Mobitex network in the U.S., which covers 93% of the US. business population, including 492 Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 130 airports.
“Cingular Wireless is the leading provider of wireless data services with more experience supporting BlackBerry customers and corporate systems connectivity than any other carrier in the US,” said Charles Nelson, president of Cingular Interactive. “Onset’s METAmessage solutions extend BlackBerry functionality for government security programs, where the need for continuous communications is absolute.”
METAmessage Emergency Communication capabilities let IT managers and planners use existing and planned BlackBerry deployments to meet COOP/ER mandates. These features include updating PIN addresses on handhelds; blasting PIN-to-PIN messages to groups; archiving PIN-to-PIN messages; automatically maintaining up-to-date emergency documents on handhelds; and, collecting and distributing vital information such as location and contact information when networks are down using the Emergency Gateway.
According to Gadi Mazor, president and CEO of Onset Technology, “As the BlackBerry platform proliferates in the government space, it is an obvious asset for optimizing communications in disaster scenarios. We have designed METAmessage Emergency Communications to effectively leverage this asset, further establishing the BlackBerry handheld as a primary tool for emergency response and recovery.”
METAmessage Emergency Communications
In the event of a catastrophic loss of network, email, or back-end infrastructure, BlackBerry users can take advantage of PIN-to-PIN messaging to communicate directly with other BlackBerry users over the wireless network. However, two factors can potentially impede this feature: the need for easy access to PIN addresses and the decision by many organizations to “turn off” PIN-to-PIN messaging due to the absence of message archiving. With METAmessage, users can make sure their BlackBerry address books have the latest PIN addresses by using METAmessage’s PIN updating feature. And, organizations can enable PIN-to-PIN messaging with the knowledge that all transmissions will be securely archived.
PIN-to-PIN blast makes fast communication with groups possible by letting users address messages using special lists of PIN addresses or using existing lists from the BlackBerry address book where PIN addresses have been included in the address book entries.
The METAmessage handheld document storage (HDS) capability lets a user read emergency information immediately on their handheld even if out of wireless coverage. When in coverage, METAmessage monitors specified network folders that contain emergency documents. It converts the documents into handheld-readable format, and uploads the documents to the handheld. METAmessage maintains the latest versions of emergency documents on the handheld, and the original documents can be in virtually any format, from WordPerfect documents and Excel spreadsheets to MS Project files, PowerPoint presentations and .html pages.
METAmessage data access capabilities let handheld users access emergency information located in network file servers, document management systems, enterprise applications, and databases using simple forms. Users either request information or enter information into the data source without having to launch a Web browser. METAmessage data access capabilities are currently available for over 180 information systems.
METAmessage for Wireless
METAmessage, used by over 1000 enterprise customers with over 100,000 users, is a complete, out-of-the-box solution for BlackBerry handheld access to the enterprise. Users can interact directly with a range of enterprise data systems including document management/time-and-billing programs, enterprise applications, and internally developed databases. The user simply opens a form on the handheld and either requests information from or adds information to the data source. Users can also print anywhere, including network printers; spell check outgoing messages; and, get network documents to send, read, or print. METAmessage also provides advanced Legal, Data, and Voice solutions.
About Onset Technology
Founded in 1997, Onset Technology is the developer of METAmessage® for Wireless- a unique software solution that gives business users access to virtually any data on their enterprise network using wireless devices such as BlackBerry® handhelds from Research In Motion (RIM). The software is broadly compatible with virtually all wireless devices and servers including those from strategic partners AT&T, Ericsson, Microsoft, and RIM. Since its introduction, METAmessage has been widely adopted by Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and a range of large service organizations. For more information, visit www.onsettechnology.com.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
